Biz Hits D.C. To Lobby On Digital Issues

More than a dozen music-industry groups will descend on Capitol Hill tomorrow (Sept. 9) to show their support of online music services and the so-called Induce bill. The day of lobbying is being coord

More than a dozen music-industry groups will descend on Capitol Hill tomorrow (Sept. 9) to show their support of online music services and the so-called Induce bill. The day of lobbying is being coordinated by the RIAA.

Among the groups attending the all-day event will be ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, musicians' unions, the Nashville Songwriters Assn. International, the Recording Academy, the Recording Artists Coalition and the Songwriters Guild of America.

Tomorrow evening, the groups will mingle with lawmakers and their staffs in a setting that will include a guitar pull and a performance by Capitol Nashville act the Jenkins.

Tonight, the Recording Academy will hold its Grammys on the Hill reception and dinner here, but one award recipient-- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton -- will stay home in New York with her husband, Bill Clinton, as he recuperates from heart surgery. Recording artist and Clinton constituent Judy Collins, who will perform in honor of the senator at the event, will carry the award back to New York.

Rep. Mary Bono, R-Calif., and recording artist Natalie Cole are expected to be on hand to receive their awards for contributions to the music community.

Meanwhile, proponents and opponents of the Induce bill met with staff at the Copyright Office yesterday (Sept. 7) to hammer out alternative language that focuses liability on "mass infringing" P2P services. The bill, S. 2560, would enable artists and labels to sue peer-to-peer networks that profit by "inducing" consumers to illegally share protected copyrighted works.

Among the groups at the meeting were the Consumer Electronics Assn., Public Knowledge, the Center for Democracy and Technology, NetCoalition, SBC, Verizon, the Future of Music Coalition, the Business Software Alliance, Microsoft, the RIAA, the Digital Music Assn., Time Warner/AOL and Viacom.

The Copyright Office staff is due to submit its recommendations to the Senate Judiciary Committee Sept. 9. Insiders say it's unlikely there can be a markup of the bill until Sept. 23.